Emergencies Act could harm truckers unconnected with blockades: trade group


Sweeping powers invoked by the federal government risk dropping the hammer on drivers and companies that have no direct role in blockades, the head of a trucking association says.

The Emergencies Act triggered by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday authorizes financial institutions to freeze protesters’ bank accounts and cancel vehicle insurance coverage without a court order.

Mike Millian, president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, said he condemns the demonstrations but worries rogue drivers who defy head-office directives to avoid the blockades could jeopardize the operations of entire companies.

Because insurance policies encompass whole fleets rather than individual drivers, thousands of truckers employed by a single carrier could be punished for the choices of a few, he said.

"Insurance being cancelled could be an issue because you don't just insure one truck," Millian said. "Now we've got a whole fleet put down. And if you seize the corporate bank accounts, we now have nobody getting paid."

Authorities must also make sure they don't penalize truckers who happen to be near a blockade but are not participants, he said.

"If people are willingly breaking the law, we've got no issues — put the boots to them with every enforcement power you got," he said. "But it's our concern about affecting those that may not have anything to do with this."

The government has assured the association, which represents companies with in-house fleets such as Loblaws and Walmart Canada, that officers will be instructed to give drivers an opportunity to leave the protest area before "severe measures" come down, Millian added.

Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act to bring to an end what he deems illegal blockades that sprang up in Ottawa and border crossings.

The measures grant police and financial instructions extraordinary powers to stop public assemblies that “breach the peace” in established no-go zones, force towing companies to remove vehicles involved in road blockades, and require banks to suspend or freeze accounts suspected of supporting them.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government is "serving notice" to trucking companies with vehicles at the blockades that they will have their corporate accounts frozen and lose their insurance.

However, a corporate account may not be suspended unless it appears to be the source of large contributions to blockaders, said Wesley Wark, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Donations from truckers' personal accounts can also be frozen, with no impact on their colleagues.

"The financial sanctions will be used surgically, not least to avoid legal challenges. But they are also meant to act as a threat and deterrent in the hope that companies would also put their own pressure on 'rogue drivers' — a two-pronged attack," Wark said.

Surveillance, licence plate information, open-source intelligence — social media monitoring, for example — and now-mandatory registration by all crowdfunding and payment services with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, known as Fintrac, will all play a roll in identifying and penalizing protesters, he said.

Truckers who have camped out below Parliament Hill for more than two weeks said they were undeterred by the emergency measures.

"I'm afraid of nothing," Quebec big-rigger Martin Thibault said from his cab downtown. He said he has been at the protest for 17 days and plans to stay until all vaccine mandates end.

Cristian Munteau, whose bright yellow rig has been parked near Parliament Hill since the first day of the protest, said the steps taken by Trudeau reminded him of authoritarian powers adopted by regimes in his native Romania.

"This reminds me of the Communists. They try everything to hurt people through laws ... They have the power — the power to make me homeless," he said. "But this is about freedom of speech. It doesn't scare me."

Breaching any order or regulation made through the emergencies law could also result in a penalty of up to five years in jail and a fine of $5,000.

The truck council says the government must offer protection against threats to tow-truck drivers who can be compelled by the law to remove vehicles and big-rigs.

"I may be protected when I'm on scene removing the truck, but how are you protecting my business's safety after that?" Millian asked.

Stakeholders say they believe the majority of truckers involved in the demonstrations are independent drivers who own their semi trucks and work on contract. For owner-operators a suspended or frozen account, insurance certificate or licence — or an impounded tractor — would severely dent their income.

“They can’t survive. It’s going to impact them hugely on their bottom line," said Lisa Garofalo, vice-president of the trucking division at Baird MacGregor Insurance Brokers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2022.

— With files from Marie Woolf in Ottawa

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

KENNEY & UCP WERE HANDS OFF

'It could have been deadly': Truckers end blockade at Alberta border crossing

The Canadian Press

COUTTS, Alta. — A blockade that paralyzed a United States border crossing for more than two weeks ended Tuesday as trucks and other vehicles with horns blaring rolled away from a southern Alberta community.

Protesters had been restricting access to the busy crossing near Coutts since Jan. 29 to rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truckers and broader pandemic health restrictions.

Canada Border Services Agency said operations had resumed at the crossing and RCMP confirmed later Tuesday that traffic was moving smoothly.

The exodus of vehicles came one day after RCMP arrested 13 people and seized a cache of firearms and ammunition.

Charges laid include possession of weapons and mischief to property.

Four people also face a charge of conspiracy to murder RCMP members, said Chief Supt. Trevor Daroux. He said police worked closely with the Crown to ensure they had the necessary evidence to lay those charges.

Some of the accused were granted release in a Lethbridge, Alta., courtroom on Tuesday. A judge also ordered that they can't contact one another or be within a 200-metre radius of any protest.

Mounties said an early-morning raid Monday uncovered 13 long guns, handguns, a machete, a large quantity of ammunition and body armour. Two additional weapons were seized later in the day.

RCMP also said a semi-truck and farm tractor had attempted to ram a police cruiser on Sunday.

"The dangerous criminal activity occurring away from the TV cameras and social media posts was real and organized," said Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki on Tuesday evening.

"It could have been deadly for citizens, protesters and officers."

Daroux said the RCMP became aware of the heavily armed group a few days after the protest began. He said investigations are ongoing into this group and other events that took place during the blockade.

"Alberta RCMP will remain in the area until we are confident that the situation is safe and stabilized for all who travel through here," he said.

Protesters are dissociating themselves from the group of people facing serious charges. Organizer Marco Van Huigenbos said that is why the convoy decided to leave peacefully.

He said he has no regrets about participating in the blockade.

"I think we've started a movement where people are going to get more involved ... at the municipal level, provincial possibly, but also more involvement in politics in general."

Two tactical vests seized by the RCMP had badges on them, which the Canadian Anti-Hate Network said have links to troubling movements.

One vest had a "Diagolon" patch on it, a white diagonal line across a black rectangle, that is linked to an often conspiratorial and antisemitic group, said Peter Smith from the network. He said the group often talks about a soon-approaching civil war.

"(Their) rhetoric is very violent," said Smith. "One of the, kind of, common phrases used within the community is 'A gun or rope?'"

The other patch said "Infidel" in both English and Arabic in yellow. Smith said the patch doesn't indicate membership to a specific network but is known among Islamophobic militias and biker-style hate groups.

He said the biggest worry is having niche extremist networks that could work to inflame supporters linked to what was supposed to be a peaceful protest.

There was celebrating when the protest started winding down late Monday. A video posted to social media showed RCMP members shaking hands with and hugging protesters. People holding hats or hands to their chests or with arms draped across each other's shoulders sang O Canada.

Cpl. Gina Slaney confirmed the scene was from Monday night in Coutts.Zablocki said RCMP is aware of the video.

"I will say, we do encourage our members to engage with the public and develop respectful, professional relationships with all Albertans," said Zablocki. "We will be looking further into this matter."

Jim Willett, mayor of the village of 250 people, said it had been a while since he had seen anything but semi-trailers on Highway 4.

"I can see all the way to Regina," he said with a laugh.

Willett said he doesn't blame the blockade leaders for the cache of weapons.

"They were a well-behaved bunch of people," he said. "I think the organizers were taken aback as much as we were by what the RCMP discovered."

The number of protesters at a police checkpoint, north of Coutts, had also dwindled and work was underway to start clearing away a first-aid trailer, a sauna and electric generators.

"Last night, emotions were high ... I think a lot of people felt that we were giving up, but we're not giving up," said John Vanreeuwyk, a feedlot operator from Coaldale, Alta., also a protest organizer.

"Is it a victory? No. A victory means we're done," he said.

The blockade was one of several demonstrations in Canadian cities and border points that stalled trade, stranded travellers and disrupted lives of area residents, particularly in Ottawa.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has said $48 million in trade was lost each day that the Coutts border was closed.

— With files from Alanna Smith in Calgary

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2022.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

From snakes to Spartans: The meaning behind some of the flags convoy protesters are carrying

Katie Nicholson -

cbc.ca

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the nation's capital and other cities across Canada over the last three weeks to protest vaccine mandates, pandemic restrictions and lockdowns.

While many protesters have been carrying the Canadian flag, some have been waving flags that are less recognizable.

But for experts who study extremism in Canada, the symbols on some of these flags are familiar.

Here's what some of them mean.

Gadsden flag

"If you step on a snake, you're going to get bitten. That's the idea," said Matthew Chen of the coiled-snake symbol on the yellow flag with the words "Don't Tread on Me" written on it that he was carrying to Saturday's convoy protest in Toronto.

Chen is vaccinated but said he was there to stand up for individual rights because he doesn't think public health measures are fair to people who choose to be unvaccinated.


© Turgut Yeter/ CBCMatthew Chen said he decided to carry a Gadsden flag to the Feb. 12 Toronto protest because of its message to government: 'Don't tread on me.'

"It only takes one generation to let freedom slip, and then you have Communist China, you have Putin's Russia," Chen said. "They can't do anything unmonitored. And I don't want that here."

The Gadsden flag dates back to the 18th century, with its roots in the American Revolution. Named for Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina politician and brigadier general in the Continental Army who is believed to have designed it, it was originally adopted by the navy as a warning to British forces who sought to control the colonies.

It later became a favourite among Libertarians in the United States.

The flag was also used by the Tea Party movement and was spotted outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot in Washington, D.C.


© Shannon Stapleton/ReutersA Gadsden flag in the crowd during the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former U.S. president Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.

"The snake that's at the centre of the Gadsden flag refers to this notion of defensive violence — that whoever is carrying that flag is there to defend their territory, to defend themselves," said Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University.

"In this case, to defend themselves or the movement or Canadians from a tyrannical government."

To many who brandish the Gadsden flag, it doesn't necessarily signal far right extremism so much as anti-government sentiment and libertarianism.

Gadsden flag, but with a Canadian twist


© Turgut Yeter/CBCA Canadian version of the Gadsden flag, seen here at the Feb. 12 protest at Queen's Park in Toronto, substitutes the goose for the original snake.

A Canadian variation of the Gadsden has been on display at a number of the convoy protests, with the snake swapped out for an aggressive Canada goose.

"I think that's a very clever use of the flag because the Canada Goose is also territorial, also protective, also defensive," Perry said.

"What we've heard through the protests here is that emphasis on the need to defend themselves against a tyrannical state — that our freedoms are being taken away from us."


© Katie Nicholson/ CBCA Canadian Gadsden flag flies at the Queen's Park protest on Feb. 5.

Steve, a protester who carried a Canadian Gadsden flag to the Queen's Park protest Saturday said the Canadian version seemed appropriate since Canadian geese "honk," and honking has played a large role in the convoy protests.

"It essentially is self-explanatory," said Steve, who gave his surname as "defund the CBC."

"Don't tread on me, right? You don't mess with me. And you know, no one will mess with you. The non-aggression principle.

"Clearly we want government off our back … I'm a proud, strong Canadian, but, you know, minimal government."

Molon Labe flag

This black and white flag with an image of a Spartan helmet was spotted outside Queen's Park during the Feb. 5 Toronto protest. The words "Molon Labe" are Greek for "Come and take them."

The phrase and the image are popular among supporters of the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms) in the U.S.

"It's very similar to what Charlton Heston said when he was president of the NRA (National Rifle Association) in the U.S. 'Take these guns from my cold, dead hands,'" said Perry.


© Katie Nicholson/ CBCThis Molon Labe flag paired with a Canadian flag was unfurled outside Queen’s Park Feb. 5.

"To have that gun-rights narrative enter into this movement was a little disconcerting, but it also speaks to the fact that we are seeing more of that American-style emphasis on gun rights in the Canadian context, within some of the far right groups, specifically."

The appearance of flags that have their origins in the U.S. at the protests isn't surprising to those who study extremism.

"The United States is and remains the greatest [exporter] of far right ideology," said David Hofmann, who researches far right extremism at the University of New Brunswick.

Hofmann said homegrown extremists and those on the far right often borrow images and symbols from the United States even if they are based on laws — such as the Second Amendment — that have no bearing in Canada.

"This is more about evoking core ideas, about freedom, about rights for the far right movement as a global entity," he said.

Patriote flag

Some of the flags are homegrown, including variations on the Patriote flag, which dates back to the 1830s.

Historically, the flag has been associated with the Patriote movement in Lower Canada (which included the southern portion of present-day Quebec) and the rebellions of 1837 and 1838, explained Frédérick Nadeau, who works at an anti-radicalization research centre at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit, a public francophone college in Longueuil, Que.


© CBCA patriote flag hangs off the shoulder of an Ottawa protester. The flag has become a symbol of far right Quebec nationalists, according to experts.

Those rebellions sought to make Lower Canada independent from the British Empire. The green, white and red colours of the flag are likely a nod to the province's Irish, French and British inhabitants, respectively, at the time, Nadeau said.

IT WAS USED BY THE FLQ FOR THEIR MANIFESTO IN 1970 DURING THE LAPORTE KIDNAPPING AND CRISIS THAT LED TO THE WAR MEASURES ACT BEING INVOKED BY PAPA TRUDEAU

The flag was resurrected around the time of the 1995 Quebec referendum, with new details: a star to light Quebec's way forward and a rebel figure holding a musket, Nadeau said.

"We saw it make a reappearance recently in ultra-nationalist and far right demonstrations," said Nadeau.

Patriote flag, but with a gnome

Pictures from the protests in Ottawa also show a variation of the Patriote flag, with an image of gnome holding a Quebec flag added.


© CBCA Patriote flag with a gnome on it, seen in Ottawa, is a symbol of the Quebec-based anti-COVID restriction group Les Farfadaas

"This is the symbol of a particular group that was created in the beginning of the pandemic, and the group is called Les Farfadaas. Farfadet is the translation of 'gnome,' more or less, in French," Nadeau said.

The group was formed in Quebec to protest against public health measures.

"And so that group originated from the far right group La Meute."

La Meute is a Quebec-based group widely regarded by experts as being far right, anti-Islam and anti-immigration.

Les Farfadaas' cheerful gnome figure may seem odd, but Louis Audet Gosselin, the scientific and strategic director of the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence, said it started when one of the group's leaders joked that politicians and newspapers treated them as if they were "Farfadaas."

"Movements like that, they throw out a lot of imagery and some of them stick," Gosselin said. "Those symbols always evolve and that will probably continue to do so in the future."

The gnome-like figure isn't the only symbol used by Les Farfadaas.

"They also use … some symbols of the biker universe. So they have leather suits … with badges on," Gosselin said.

Canadian flag, but upside down

Another familiar sight at the protests has been an upside down Canadian flag. Flying a nation's flag upside down is generally meant to convey a distress signal or a sign of extreme danger to life.

Federal rules say the flag should never be flown upside down, burned or marked, among other things.

Protesters have used the upside-down Canadian flag at pandemic-related protests since the first months of the lockdown. In May 2020, anti-lockdown protesters gathered at Queen's Park in Toronto to demand Premier Doug Ford lift restrictions.

"What just burns me up, more than anything, more than them standing out there, is I look out the window, and I see our Canadian flag being flown upside down," Ford said at the time.

Flags are window into protest, expert says

While these are just a small sample of some of the flags and symbols on display at the protests, researchers who have studied them say they offer a window into some of the groups fuelling the protests.

"There are multiple intersecting and converging elements to this movement, which is providing a strength for the movement as a whole," said Perry.

Hofmann said many of the converging groups have the same goal: attention.

"They're not monolithic, but they're all there to get attention. They want people watching," he said.

"This isn't a single entity as much as it is a bunch of groups with their own agendas and their own focus and their own goals, seizing the opportunity to to be seen and to spread their messaging."

And Nadeau says the pandemic has played a key role in this convergence.

"So many political fringes that were until then evolving in separate political spheres, and that were even in conflict with one another sometimes, really came together to protest against the public health measures," he said.

"Those different symbols that we saw this weekend and the variety of it, and, it really tells us about the complexity of that movement."

More data on Canadian 'Freedom Convoy' donors leaked -website


By Christopher Bing and Anna Mehler Paperny

WASHINGTON/TORONTO (Reuters) -The leak website Distributed Denial of Secrets on Tuesday said it has posted more donor files from the fundraising platform GiveSendGo relating to the Canadian movement of people opposed to pandemic health measures, including COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

On Sunday, the DDoS website, which is devoted to disseminating leaked data, said it was releasing donor information relating to the "Freedom Convoy 2022" campaign, which raised more than $2 million in donations. It includes funds raised from several Canadian business owners.

Tuesday's leak contains donor information about a similar “Adopt-a-Trucker” campaign, which says it is operating “in partnership with the Freedom Convoy." The Adopt-a-Trucker effort appeared to raise less money and involved fewer donors.

The funding of the Canadian protests has emerged as a key point of interest as authorities in Ottawa and elsewhere try to get a grip on rallies led by truckers since late January that have blockaded cities and border crossings across Canada with demands that include deposing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.


© Reuters/CHRIS HELGRENFILE PHOTO: Truckers continue to protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa

GiveSendGo did not immediately respond to a request for comment about any hack or the status of its campaigns.

The Sunday data from the U.S.-based Christian fundraising site included names, email addresses, ZIP codes and internet protocol addresses. Tuesday's leak offered similar material in addition to payment details, based on a review of the data.

The new GiveSendGo data also came from a "hack" according to DDoS, which did not provide further information. The Adopt-a-Trucker campaign has pulled in nearly $600,000, according to GiveSendGo.

DDoS said that because the donor information contained sensitive personal information, it would not be making the data available publicly but would instead be offering it to journalists and researchers.

DDoS describes itself as a nonprofit devoted to enabling the free transmission of data in the public interest.

GiveSendGo became a prime conduit for money to the protesters after mainstream crowdfunding platform GoFundMe blocked donations to the self-declared Freedom Convoy. Earlier this month the group said it had raised $8 million for the protests.

The Ontario government obtained an injunction last week freezing GiveSendGo's "Freedom Convoy 2022" and "Adopt-A-Trucker" campaign funds. [L1N2UL3GW] GiveSendGo said at the time it was not subject to Canadian law and continued to fundraise.

Brad Howland, president of EasyKleen Pressure Systems Ltd, which is headquartered in New Brunswick and manufactures high-pressure cleaning systems, donated $75,000 to GiveSendGo's "Freedom Convoy" on Feb. 9, according to leaked information confirmed by Reuters.

In a statement sent by a company spokesperson, Howland confirmed his support for the convoy, saying he wants the government to remove mandates "to restore all our freedoms."

"We drove to Ottawa this weekend and witnessed the protest for ourselves," the statement reads in part. "They have a beautiful, legal, peaceful protest that overwhelmed us with emotion. To see the love, peace, and unity that many of us have longed for, for a long time – It was an experience of a lifetime."

Holden Rhodes, a London, Ontario-based lawyer and mountain resort owner, confirmed in an email to Reuters that he and his wife donated $25,000 to the Freedom Convoy. It was the among the highest value donations from Canada.

"Without freedom, we have nothing. ... That is why I am doing what I am doing," said Rhodes, adding Ontario's decision on Monday to remove proof-of-vaccination requirements and other restrictions early is proof the movement has succeeded.

(Reporting by Christopher Bing in Washington, Anna Mehler Paperney in Toronto and Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Writing by Chris Sanders; Editing by Franklin Paul, Jonathan Oatis and Marguerita Choy)

Convoy protesters pursue new funding, including own crypto token, as feds swoop in

OTTAWA — Figures behind the protests blockading Parliament Hill and various border crossings are championing new ways to finance their movement — including through their own crypto token — as Ottawa invokes sweeping powers to crack down on their cash flow.

Pat King, an influential organizer, appeared in a video streamed live on Facebook Monday, hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was invoking the Emergencies Act in hopes of bringing an end to the protests.

The never-before-used federal legislation is designed so that Ottawa can introduce temporary measures to deal with what it deems to be a public emergency.

The measures include the power for banks to suspend or freeze the accounts of those supporting the blockades and force crowdfunding platforms and cryptocurrencies to follow anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws.

At the end of the 24-minute video, in which King tells his supporters "don't back off" in the face of the new federal powers, he encourages them to check out a website for a "freedom convoy token."

The website lists King, who is identified as a so-called freedom fighter, as a founder of the token, along with several others and a team of developers.

It's not the first time leaders of the protest movement have advocated for supporters to turn to the more complicated world of cryptocurrency as a channel to generate funds, including last week when others promoted the use of Bitcoin.

King's site instructs users to download a crypto wallet, purchase an already established token and then swap that for the convoy's coin.

University of Toronto finance professor Andreas Park says anyone can create a crypto token and it appears the organizers are using it as a way to fundraise online.

"What they do is they sell these tokens in return for cash," he said.

"They create this token. You give them a token that actually has value. They can take that token, convert it to money and do their thing."

Compared to the regulated banking system, this one is much more difficult for governments to control and enforce rules, Park said.

The convoy coin website lists its initial cause to be fundraising, but also references a later goal as starting "development of a GoFundMe-like killer decentralized platform."

"Being able to push our cause to a worldwide audience with no entity to control our vision meant going decentralized," its reads. It adds that four per cent of every transaction will go into what's called the "Freedom Convoy Foundation."

As of Tuesday at around 5 p.m., it reported nearly 3,000 transfers had occurred.

Creating their own crypto coin began after protesters were initially raising funds on GoFundMe. Donors contributed more than $10 million before the website pulled the plug, saying the demonstration had become an "occupation."

Police and local leaders had expressed concerns about the platform's role in financing the Parliament Hill blockade, which was causing headaches for residents because of the truckers' incessant honking and forcing nearby businesses to shut their doors due to worries about harassment and public health rules being broken.

Organizers then turned to GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding platform, where it raised more than $US8.4 million before an Ontario court froze access to the funds at the request of the provincial government.

All the while, those protesting on Parliament Hill have been seen collecting cash donations and passing out bills.

Matt McGuire, an anti-money laundering expert and cryptocurrency investigator who also reviewed the convoy's coin, said it appears to be designed in such a way that makes it more challenging to connect the individuals who donated to the actual funds.

"The amount of layering involved will also make it difficult to know the ultimate use of the funds," he said.

Unlike Bitcoin, which has been around long enough the cryptocurrency can be transferred into something like a prepaid card, he said nothing yet exists for those holders of the convoy coin.

"The problem they're going to have next is how do you get this (freedom convoy token) into real money," he said. "You have to try to swap it for something else that you could actually get out of the system."

King's video Monday evening also teased another fundraiser for supporters to use. A woman who was identified as "Dayna" from within the movement touted a website that paired donors with a family or a truck driver in need of support funds.

By Tuesday afternoon, that website was no longer available.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2022.

Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press

#DEFUNDPOLICE

'Kept under wraps': Edmonton police to replace plane operating 'covertly' for three decades

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) should explain why a fixed-wing aircraft it’s been operating “covertly” for more than 30 years has just come to light now, a professor of criminology says.

Anna Junker -
Edmonton Journal

© Provided by Edmonton JournalThe Villeneuve Airport, where the Edmonton Police Service keeps its aircraft, is seen on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. EPS is in the process of acquiring a new fixed wing aircraft after operating its current plane ‘covertly’ for 30 years.

Police spokeswoman Cheryl Sheppard this week confirmed the service bought the 1980 Cessna 182Q in 1993. It’s been piloted all these years by police employees using it for a variety of operational purposes, including monitoring criminal flights, locating missing people, and working on joint force operations with various law enforcement partners, said Sheppard.

“The aircraft is not used for the transportation of members or goods,” she said in a statement. “It flies frequently and has been an asset to the EPS, contributing to the overall safety of Edmontonians over the last 31 years of its operation.”

But due to the “covert nature” of the aircraft, Sheppard said the police service has only discussed the plane in private meetings with the Edmonton Police Commission and city council “to ensure and maintain both public and officer safety.”

The existence of the plane was reported earlier this week by the Progress Report , citing a Nov. 8 community and public services committee meeting where Coun. Michael Janz asked about the plane.

Sheppard says the service, as a result of the public discussion, is “disappointed that the in-camera protocols were not followed. This aircraft assists with the efficiency of police response in high-risk files and situations”

“The effectiveness of the aircraft relies heavily on the fact that it operates covertly. As such, public knowledge of this could jeopardize investigations and put officers and citizens at risk.”

Janz told Postmedia he was unaware the plane was a confidential item at the time of the meeting, saying he learned of it from a constituent and understood Saskatoon and Regina had similar planes.
‘Extraordinary and unusual’: U of A professor

For Temitope Oriola, associate professor of criminology at the University of Alberta, having the police service keep the aircraft a secret from the public for 31 years is “extraordinary and unusual.”

“The Edmonton Police Service is not CSIS, the Edmonton Police Service is not the CIA,” he said. “We would generally expect that level of secrecy, micromanagement of information and all of that from our foreign intelligence services rather than local law enforcement services.”

He said the service should further explain what necessitated keeping the plane under wraps for so long.

“Keep in mind we’re not talking about just the tenure of a single police chief. We’re talking about multiple police chiefs who had come and gone in the last three-plus decades and yet this somehow was kept under wraps,” he said.


A Cessna 182 plane, similar to the Cessna the Edmonton Police Service has been using for 30 years.

“I would like to know why this was kept secret. What was the intrinsically complex nature of those operations that necessitated not having the public know that this thing existed?”

He also said the plane raises privacy concerns.

“What kinds of tracking was done by this aircraft? And was there any sort of risk to the privacy of Edmontonians and other Canadian citizens?”

He said police should also show what the plane’s operations have accomplished.

“There may well be compelling reasons for the covert nature of the Cessna plane’s operations. But the police need to provide empirically verifiable and reasonable justification,” he said. “I think it’s essential to also point out that there are aspects of policing that are necessary and by their very nature covert that simply cannot be publicized.”

Planes in use by other police services

Mount Royal University justice studies professor Doug King noted police services using planes isn’t unusual.

“Aircraft are very common in larger municipalities in the United States,” he said. “So Los Angeles will have a couple of airplanes as well as helicopters just because of the versatility of having both in their arsenal.”

In Canada, however, planes are less common, King said. The RCMP owns several, and the Saskatoon Police Service has its own Cessna 182. The Regina Police Service was also approved to purchase a plane in December.

In Edmonton, police also have two helicopters, Air 1 and Air 2, in their flight operations unit.

King said there are pros and cons to having helicopters and an airplane.

“One of the advantages airplanes have is that they are less noticeable in the air in the sense of noise,” he said. “A plane does assist in keeping a police operation, more covert, more quiet, but you have to then weigh that off with well how often do we need that kind of capabilities.”

Planes can also stay in the air for longer without having to be refuelled and generally cost less than helicopters.

As the Cessna is now 41 years old, it has exceeded its lifespan, Sheppard said. The police service recently received approval from the EPC to procure a replacement for approximately $4.3 million. The replacement plane is expected to arrive in late 2022.

ajunker@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/JunkerAnna

Opinion: Alberta's public health care isn’t broken; it’s being dismantled

Chris Gallaway - Yesterday 

OPINION EDMONTON JOURNAL

David Staples’ recent column titled “Fragility of ICU system shows health-care system is broken” is just the latest in what appears to be a co-ordinated chorus from reactionary columnists, right-wing politicians, and conservative think tanks, all of which are lining up to seed the narrative that our public health care is “broken.” Predictably, they go on to conclude that the only solution is privatization.


© Provided by Edmonton JournalA Calgary ICU team checks a screen to help intubate a patient.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. What we are seeing is our provincial government using the COVID-19 pandemic as cover for an ideologically driven agenda of funding cuts and privatization in Alberta’s public health-care system. They are intentionally “breaking” it to justify their real agenda: further privatization.

While the pandemic initially slowed the UCP’s early attempts to privatize pieces of our health care, they are now wasting no time in selling things off.

Upon getting elected, the UCP government quickly halted, then cancelled, the much-needed super lab project in Edmonton. Community lab funds were frozen and they were instructed not to buy new equipment. The government neglected our medical labs to the point of disrepair. Now they’re offering privatization through a sweetheart deal to a for-profit company, DynaLife, as the only solution.

Emergency medical services in Alberta have been in crisis for months, years even. Yet while health-care workers, unions, community groups, municipalities, and Albertans have all been raising the alarm bells, the government has let the crisis continue to grow without a plan. Now that Alberta’s EMS services have reached a breaking point, the government announced a 10-point plan and a new panel clearly designed to contribute to the creeping privatization of our EMS services.

Since 2019, the Canadian Blood Services has been implementing a strategy to grow the number of volunteer blood plasma donors in Canada. Rather than support the public agency, the UCP government passed MLA Tany Yao’s private member’s bill to allow pay-for-plasma operators to open in Alberta. Now Albertans are getting bombarded with advertisements encouraging them to sign up to make money by selling their blood plasma, which the company can then sell into the U.S. markets.

With talk of looming staff shortages throughout our public health-care system, our government should be working proactively with Alberta’s public universities, colleges and institutes to ensure we have the skilled workforce we need in the years ahead. Instead, we are seeing a hostile approach with secret bargaining mandates for workers and deep cuts that are decimating these important post-secondary institutions.

Not to mention the privatization of laundry services, attacks on doctors and health-care workers, ongoing layoffs, and new plans being developed for seniors’ care; truly the list goes on and on.

Rather than investing in our public health-care system in the interest of all Albertans, at every turn, the UCP government is choosing to offload their responsibility to provide quality health services, turning over much of our system into the hands of a private, for-profit companies.

Ultimately, this isn’t about fixing a “broken” system. History tells us this won’t save money. It’s about their ideological push to see more of our public health dollars going to reward private profit.

The provincial budget will soon be tabled. Tens of thousands of surgeries have been cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. The idea of a new private orthopedic surgical facility, the largest ever in Alberta, has already been floated. Will the upcoming budget put our public hospitals and surgeries next into the privatization crosshairs?

Albertans should be concerned and watching closely. We can’t be fooled by claims of a “broken” system. The government is choosing this path. We need to be ready to stand up and demand they invest in the public health-care system we deserve. It’s time to say no more public dollars for private profit.

Chris Gallaway is the executive director of Friends of Medicare.

Climate migration fuels conflicts in Bay of Bengal region

Climate change pressures are pushing people from their homes and exacerbating tensions over control of valuable but shrinking natural resources like land, water and minerals, says new report

by Anuradha Nagaraj

Tuesday, 15 February 2022 

CHENNAI, India, Feb 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Military and civil conflicts could intensify along the Bay of Bengal coastline, fuelled by climate change-linked migration, land loss and displacement, researchers said on Tuesday.

The area is seeing frequent extreme weather, which combined with its strategic, social and economic fault-lines, makes it "fertile ground" for social friction and violence, they warned.

A report, by think-tanks the Netherlands-based Clingendael Institute and India's Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, said the region was already dotted with conflicts over resources, identity and growing migration flows.

"Climate change can widen socio-economic divides that in some cases can snowball into political instability and widen conflicts," said Angshuman Choudhury, one of the report authors.

"Migration is a key link in this chain of consequences... The so-called 'insider versus outsider' conflicts are increasing," he said, referring to tensions between those on the move and their host communities.

Disastrous floods, deadly heatwaves and devastating cyclones are taking a heavy toll in the Bay of Bengal region, which covers more than 2 million sq km (772,204 sq miles) - impacting Bangladesh and parts of Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Myanmar and India.

The report pointed to conflicts between social groups, communities and the state over control of valuable but shrinking natural resources like land, forests, water and minerals.

In Bangladesh, for example, there have been "periods of violence" between agricultural and shrimp farmers in the Khulna region over salinisation of water resources, the report noted.

It also pointed to a dozen ethnic separatist movements triggered by conflict over resources in Northeast India.

The Bay of Bengal coast, home to a quarter of the world's population, is a perfect example of the fight over fast-disappearing land, report co-author Siddharth Anil Nair told a webinar.



'THREAT MULTIPLIER'

Pointing to porous international borders cutting across countries that are home to socio-culturally similar groups, the report flagged growing conflicts triggered by migration, identifying "climate-induced" movement as a key driver.

And in all five countries, internal migration from coastal belts to the hinterland could lead to uncontrolled urbanisation, giving rise to tensions and crime, it warned.

In India, anti-immigrant violence in northeast Assam state has been triggered by people moving across the India-Bangladesh border, while Bangladesh has seen local protests against Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.

Rising sea levels, in particular, could result in land and infrastructure loss in the future, besides altering the location and allocation of strategic military assets, researchers said.

Calling climate stresses both "risk" and "threat multipliers", the researchers said the phenomenon was also impacting the resilience of displaced communities.

Citing the example of Bhashan Char in Bangladesh, the report said higher seas, erosion and cyclones could severely impact the living conditions of Rohingya refugees on the island.

Climate pressures could also aggravate land depletion, dispossession and degradation, fuelling economic and social insecurity among agrarian communities and ethnic minorities, leading to new phases of violent conflict, the report added.

"Climate change increases the risk of various types of violence and human insecurity," said Florian Krampe, director of the climate change and risk programme at SIPRI, a Swedish institute dedicated to research into conflict and disarmament.

Peace-building and development are needed to deal with the problem, he said.

The report suggested a multi-pronged strategy to help at-risk populations cope - from creating awareness and supporting traditional adaptation strategies to encouraging grassroots leadership and building public-private partnerships.

It also called for the creation of a regional task force for to create better early warning mechanisms and emergency response systems to protect affected groups.


Read more:

Climate migration predicted to rise in India as extreme weather worsens

Incomes dip for South Asia's women home workers as heat rises

Unequal risk: How climate change hurts India's poor most

(Reporting by Anuradha Nagaraj @AnuraNagaraj; Editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)

 

Chile’s constituent assembly begins debating new constitution

Constituents are discussing host of measures, such as water and Indigenous rights, that could end up in new magna carta.

The discussions come as Gabriel Boric, a 36-year-old leftist former student protest leader, is set to take over as Chile's next president in March [File: Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters]

Published On 15 Feb 202215 Feb 2022

Chile’s constituent assembly has begun formally debating motions for a new constitution, which is set to replace one dating back to the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.

The assembly on Tuesday began what is likely to be a lengthy process, discussing plans to nationalise mining, the creation of a one-chamber Congress, water rights, and protections for Indigenous territories, among other issues.end of list

“In this period we are going to see what is really going to remain in the proposed constitution,” said constituent assembly President Maria Elisa Quinteros, noting that the text would face a nationwide referendum planned for September.

The discussions come as Gabriel Boric, a 36-year-old leftist former student protest leader, is set to take over as Chile’s next president in March.

His ascendency to the nation’s highest office marks the country’s most dramatic political and social shift since its return to democracy in 1990.

The constitutional body is dominated by independent and left-leaning representatives

 [Ivan Alvarado/Reuters]

On the discussion list are water and property rights, central bank independence, and labour practices. Other themes include animal rights, feminist education, protection of the natural world, and the legalisation of cannabis.

The proposals will be debated in the coming months and will need approval by two-thirds of the delegates, some 103 votes.

If approved they would face a process of modifications before a second definitive vote to be included in the final text. If rejected they would go back to the commission to be revised or discarded.

The potential for sharp shifts in the country has caused some alarm among conservatives while also sparking jitters among investors and mining firms.

Quinteros sought to allay the fears, saying there had been lots of “misinformation” around the process and that the motions were at an early stage.

But those concerns have seen the process lose some support, with a survey by private pollster Cadem showing that the percentage of people who currently say they intend to vote to approve the new Constitution had fallen from 56 to 47 percent.

The proposals will be debated in the coming months and will need approval by two-thirds of the delegates [Ivan Alvarado/Reuters]

The constitutional body, elected last year, is dominated by independent and left-leaning representatives, some with roots in a 2019 protest movement that broke out over inequality in one of the region’s we

Kenneth Bunker, director of consultancy Tresquintos, said this was an important moment for “concerns” to be raised to avoid “wacky” motions moving forward and undermining trust in the process.

But Bunker said he still thought the new constitution would eventually pass, though it would create a challenge for Boric’s new government.

“In the short-term, the government of Gabriel Boric, if this Constitution comes to pass, will have a real challenge to balance the social infrastructure with the political and economic situation in Chile today,” he said.

Bernie Sanders’s Smart Take on NATO, Ukraine, and Diplomatic Options

“A simplistic refusal to recognize the complex roots of the tensions in the region undermines the ability of negotiators to reach a peaceful resolution,” said the Vermont senator.

By John Nichols
TODAY 

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) conducts a news conference on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction in the US Capitol on Wednesday, November 3. (Photo By Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)


Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) did something last week few members of the Biden administration and Congress have done in their public comments about the Ukraine crisis: offered a global perspective that goes beyond a simple recitation of State Department talking points.

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100 GROUPS DEMAND THAT BIDEN STOP ESCALATING TENSIONS OVER UKRAINE

The Senate Budget Committee chairman and former presidential candidate has long been a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interference in the political affairs of other nations and assaults on Russian dissidents, such as Alexei Navalny. And he remains so.

Speaking on the floor of the US Senate on Thursday, Sanders expressed deep concern about the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. He warned that the United States “must unequivocally support the sovereignty of Ukraine and make clear that the international community will impose severe consequences on Putin and his fellow oligarchs if he does not change course.”

Yet Sanders also steadily warned against abandoning hope for a diplomatic solution. He argued that, as part of a necessary focus on diplomacy, US officials must recognize the role that Russian fears about NATO expansion play in the crisis. This recognition could yet play a critical role in dialing down tensions and averting war.

RELATED ARTICLE

THE STRATEGIC BLUNDER THAT LED TO TODAY’S CONFLICT IN UKRAINE

“A simplistic refusal to recognize the complex roots of the tensions in the region undermines the ability of negotiators to reach a peaceful resolution,” Sanders told the Senate, in remarks that were all too rare for a chamber where too many members of both parties are rushing to hike defense spending and impose indiscriminate sanctions.

“I know it is not very popular in Washington to consider the perspectives of our adversaries, but I think it is important in formulating good policy,” Sanders said.

To that end, the senator explained:


One of the precipitating factors of this crisis, at least from Russia’s perspective, is the prospect of an enhanced security relationship between Ukraine and the United States and Western Europe, including what Russia sees as the threat of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO), a military alliance originally created in 1949 to confront the Soviet Union.

It is good to know some history. When Ukraine became independent after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russian leaders made clear their concerns about the prospect of former Soviet states becoming part of NATO and positioning hostile military forces along Russia’s border. U.S. officials recognized these concerns as legitimate at the time.

Sanders quoted former defense secretary William Perry, who in a 2016 interview said, “In the last few years, most of the blame can be pointed at the actions that Putin has taken. But in the early years I have to say that the United States deserves much of the blame. Our first action that really set us off in a bad direction was when NATO started to expand, bringing in eastern European nations, some of them bordering Russia.” He also quoted current CIA head William Burns, a former diplomat, who in a 2008 memo to then–Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote:


Ukrainian entry into NATO is the brightest of all redlines for the Russian elite (not just Putin). In more than two and a half years of conversations with key Russian players, from knuckle-draggers in the dark recesses of the Kremlin to Putin’s sharpest liberal critics, I have yet to find anyone who views Ukraine in NATO as anything other than a direct challenge to Russian interests.

With this in mind, Sanders told his colleagues,

Clearly, invasion by Russia is not an answer; neither is intransigence by NATO. It is important to recognize, for example, that Finland, one of the most developed and democratic countries in the world, borders Russia and has chosen not to be a member of NATO. Sweden and Austria are other examples of extremely prosperous and democratic countries that have made the same choice.

US officials rarely note in debates about possible solutions to the Ukraine crisis the fact that key European nations remain outside the NATO tent. But Russian diplomats have made opposition to NATO expansion central to their position in negotiations over how to avert a war. US diplomats have been just as rigid in arguing that Ukraine’s right to join NATO must be maintained.

Sanders pointed out in his remarks that the United States has long accepted the idea that superpowers are concerned with maintaining “spheres of influence” in their regions.

For the last 200 years, our country has operated under the Monroe Doctrine, embracing the premise that as the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere, the United States has the right to intervene against any country that might threaten our alleged interests. Under this doctrine we have undermined and overthrown at least a dozen governments. In 1962 we came to the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union in response to the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from our shore, which the Kennedy Administration saw as an unacceptable threat to our national security.

And the Monroe Doctrine is not ancient history. As recently as 2018 Donald Trump’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, called the Monroe Doctrine ‘as relevant today as it was the day it was written.…

To put it simply, even if Russia was not ruled by a corrupt authoritarian leader like Vladimir Putin, Russia, like the United States, would still have an interest in the security policies of its neighbors. Does anyone really believe that the United States would not have something to say if, for example, Mexico was to form a military alliance with a U.S. adversary?

Countries should be free to make their own foreign policy choices, but making those choices wisely requires a serious consideration of the costs and benefits. The fact is that the U.S. and Ukraine entering into a deeper security relationship is likely to have some very serious costs—for both countries.

Recognizing the role that NATO expansion plays in Russia’s thinking about the Ukraine conflict is not, Sanders argued, a sign of weakness. It is an understanding, Sanders explained, that could yet play a part in achieving “a realistic and mutually agreeable resolution—one that is acceptable to Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and our European allies—and that prevents what could be the worst European war in over 75 years.”


John NicholsJohn Nichols is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and the author of the new book Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis (Verso). He’s also the author of The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party: The Enduring Legacy of Henry Wallace's Anti-Fascist, Anti-Racist Politics, from Verso; Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America, from Nation Books; and co-author, with Robert W. McChesney, of People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy.

 

Canada’s banks seek clarification on Trudeau’s trucker crackdown

Banks may be required to report relationships with people involved in blockades and given authority to freeze accounts.

By Kevin OrlandBloomberg

Published On 15 Feb 202215 Feb 2022

A day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers to choke off funding to protests against Covid-19 restrictions, Canada’s banks were still waiting Tuesday for details on how they’re supposed to enforce the government’s orders.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday that banks would be required to report relationships with people involved in blockades and would be given the authority to freeze accounts without a court order, among other measures

The banks still had numerous questions about how to implement the measures as of Tuesday morning, according to people familiar with the matter. Outstanding questions include which types of accounts the order covers, what recourse customers will have to make the banks reconsider account closures and how the banks will be indemnified, the people said.

Chief executive officers of Canada’s major banks have held two calls with government officials about the orders: one over the weekend, while the policy was being considered, and one on Monday evening, after it was announced, the people said. Public statements about the crackdown by public officials have been consistent with what the banks have been told, one of the people said.

The legal text of the government order was made public on Tuesday, but it didn’t clarify many of the banks’ questions. It says only that the government will require payment processors to report certain transactions to regulators and will require financial-services providers to “determine whether they have in their possession or control property that belongs to a person who participates in the blockade.”

Protests that began with a trucker convoy to Ottawa last month have gridlocked Canada’s capital city and closed border crossings. Although the bridge that carries a quarter of Canada’s commerce with the U.S. was reopened Sunday night, two major border crossings in Western Canada were blocked on Monday by semi-trailers and farm equipment.

As part of the financial crackdown, the government is also broadening its anti-money-laundering rules to cover cryptocurrency trading platforms and crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe, both of which have been used to funnel donations to protesters.

Even before the government announced the emergency measures, Toronto-Dominion Bank last week froze accounts containing C$1.4 million ($1.1 million) that was donated to the protests and asked a court to take control of the funds.